Horses welcome at new campsite

The Tuscarora State Forest is offering campers the chance to bring their horses along while they go away for the weekend.

The Showaker camping area of the forest,
west of New Germantown, has been renovated, with each of five new
campsites receiving new tables and fire rings, along with hitching
posts. Additionally, a new waterless bathroom has been installed at the
day-use area and the trails in the forest have been expanded.

“This isn’t just for horses or anything
like that,” forester Bob Beleski said. “They [horseback riders] were the
ones who really pushed for this to be in here, but anybody can come and
camp.”

The project came about thanks to a $38,580
grant from the Pennsylvania Recreational Trails Program. Beleski said
the grant was “80/20” and required a local contribution of 20 percent of
the project’s cost.

“We probably ended up using a lot more than [the 20 percent required],” Beleski said.

According to the forester, the total cost
of the project will be “$48,000 something.” The park applied for the
grant approximately five years ago, and work on the campsites began last
year.

The work on the site is almost done, but
there are a few more things remaining. Beleski said the area should be
completely done by this fall. Ten to 12 volunteers have been crucial in
getting the area completed, especially in welding tie-posts for the
horses.

“I think it will be well-received by the people,” he said. “We get a lot of people from all over.”

The campsites originally were across the
road from the day-use area, but the area got wet and swampy. Beleski
said there was a lot of pressure to move the camping sites to behind the
day-use area.

“We didn’t want to use (the day-use area)
for camping, because we get a lot of trailers for camping, and in the
wintertime, we get snowmobile trailers,” Beleski said.

One of the problems has been with the
picnic tables. The staff decided not to use wooden ones, choosing tables
made from recycled plastic. When the tables arrived, chunks of metal
were in the plastic, leading to safety concerns, Beleski said. “The
[manufacturer] is going to send us new ones.”

The campsites have been open only since
May, but vandals already have struck. Someone tried to steal one of the
picnic tables, which are anchored into the ground.

“They flipped the table and pulled one of
the anchors out, but they couldn’t get the other one out,” Beleski said.
“Vandalism is a definite concern.”

So far, feedback about the area has been positive, and Beleski hopes more people will come out and camp at the forest.

“I’m sure around hunting season, we’ll get a lot more people,” he said.

Beleski and the forest rangers have high hopes for the area’s future.

“I hope it gets used. I hope we don’t have
too much vandalism,” he said. “I think the people who use it will watch
over and take good care of it.”